Trey in NYC

[colinw]

I am back from my trip to the Big Apple to check out Trey and his band.

The shows were excellent. I won't give you a song by song breakdown, but I will hit some highlights.

The Hammerstein Ballroom is a nice venue with a general admission flat floor and two mezzanines. I was in the 2nd mezz both nights (after trading second night floors for mezz beforehand). The floor was a mess with lots of people, nowhere to sit, bad sightlines, etc. I was glad to be upstairs in the comfy seats with a great view. I sat dead centre both nights in front of Trey about 6 rows form the balcony rail. The sound was excellent and very clear. The lights were not Koroda thats for sure. They were pretty good but it was pretty clear someone else was running the rig for the shows!

Both shows were sold out and the scene outside was pretty mellow. Tons of security both inside and outside, wich was fine by me. They were pretty harch inside which was kind of annoying, but I was happy to see they were preventing people from going from mezz to floor and back and forth. It cut down on all the kids jumping around all night.

The band sounded tight right from the start of the first song which was impressive. Some nice higlights were the new acoustic songs Trey debuted as well as the Cincinnatti that we got both nights (the only repeat). Other highlights were the Sultans of Swing, 30 min+ Night Speaks, First tube from first night, Sweet Dreams Melinda, and more. Two great highlights were the guest appearances - 1st night from Mike Gordon who rode on stage on his Human Transporter scooter thing which was pretty cool and then bumped fat Tony out of the way and played bass for Zeppelin's Black Dog, which featured Jenn Hartswick on vocals!! She ripped it up and the whole band was having a great time playing it. The vocals were awesome and Trey was hammering out the Page riffs. The place went crazy for it. Across the street they were debuting the new Zep DVD at the big movie place. A ton of fans were lined up for Zep (and the appearance of some of the band memebers I think), while across the street the TAB crowd was gathered. Maybe this ZEP debut was due to the movie permiere?? Second night Warren Haynes came out for the last tune of Set II and played an amazing Sand with the whole TAB. He and Trey were front and centre trading licks back and forth really jamming it out. The guests of Mike and Warren and the debut of Black Dog really were huge highlights.

General impression of the show was good. I had a really good time, and the band was in fine form. You guys going to Burlington have a good time to look forward to. The crowd was pretty good too. Really into the music and having fun. No nasties just there for the scene and to clog up space. Quite a bit of the crowd was young which was surprising. Past TAB shows have featured an older crowd, however this one had a pretty young presence. That being said, there were way more older folks than youngins!

I can't think of anything else right now, but if I do I'll post it.

I urge you guys to pick up a copy of the shows when they come out. You'll enjoy them very much.

Colin

[Booche]

DAMN STRAIGHT!

Thanks for that, I was up last night, looking for the second night. I have to hear that Sand!

I have never been disappointed seeing TAB, but obviously, it is not everyone's cup of tea.